Father begs judge to show leniency on drink-driver who killed his son as he 'doesn't want to see two lives wasted'

Friends write more than a dozen character references in support and many were in court for sentencing

Drink-driver Alexander Bell-Irving arrives at Swindon Crown Court today for sentencing after admitting causing the death of his best friend

The father of a university student killed in a road accident pleaded for leniency today as the drink-driver who killed his son was jailed for 32 months.

Donal McGrath said he did not want to see another life wasted and asked the judge to pass the lightest sentence possible on Alexander Bell-Irving.

Bell-Irving, 22, was nearly two-and-a-half times the limit when he failed to negotiate a bend on a country lane in Wiltshire and crashed into a tree.

He escaped with minor injuries but his front-seat passenger - best friend Benedict McGrath - suffered fatal injuries and was declared dead at the scene.

They were both undergraduates at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, and had spent the evening of January 10 this year drinking at a pub in Oaksey, near Marlborough, Wiltshire.

Bell-Irving and Mr McGrath, 20, who was known to his friends as Ben, were meeting up with two other friends for the first time since before Christmas.

Swindon Crown Court heard that the defendant and Mr McGrath left the pub at around 11pm to return to the flat they shared in Cirencester.

Bell-Irving got behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Corsa and shortly after leaving the pub, he failed to negotiate a left-hand bend close to Oaksey Woods and hit a tree.

A police crash investigator concluded that Bell-Irving was not speeding and simply failed to negotiate the bend because he was drunk.

Prosecutor Colin Meeke told the court: 'Mr McGrath was not wearing a seatbelt. Whether that might have helped him is mere speculation.

'The pattern of the tyre tracks led the police investigator to one conclusion only - that the high alcohol level in Mr Bell-Irving had simply led him to not negotiate the bend.'

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Mr Meeke added: 'He has never sought to evade responsibility for what he has done and he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.'

In the aftermath of the crash, Bell-Irving told police: 'It is all my own f****** fault.'

In a written statement to police, he said: 'I am devastated by the death of my good friend Ben McGrath and sometimes I wish it was me and not him.

'There is no doubt in my mind that I will never get over what happened on the evening of January 10.'

Edward Burgess, defending, said: 'There cannot be any stronger example of a young man being consumed by such feelings.

'It was never his intention to drink and drive in a way that would have had him over the limit.

'He was more or less taking a 'calculated gamble'. He made a terrible, catastrophic and fatal error and not one he had sought out to take.'

Friends had written more than a dozen character references in support of Bell-Irving and many were in court today to see him sentenced.

Also present was Mr McGrath's family - father Donal, mother Anna and sisters Rachel and Imogen - who were also backing Bell-Irving.

Mr McGrath told the court that he first met Bell-Irving - nicknamed Adge - about a year ago and since his son's death, the defendant had stayed at his home with his family and had spoken of what happened.

Describing the relationship between the defendant and his son, Mr McGrath said: 'They were very close friends, they were great friends. They were housemates. They spent a lot of time together and they shared the same interests.'

Mr McGrath added: 'I think a lot of what has been said in court expresses exactly what his [Bell-Irving] character is.

'He is very remorseful for what happened. The fact is a lot of friends of both of them are here to support him.'

Compassion: Donal and Anna McGrath, the parents of Benedict McGrath, arrive at the court with one of his sisters

Student Rory Boswell, a
friend of Mr McGrath and Bell-Irving, was one of the people drinking
with the defendant on the night of the crash.

He also spoke up for Bell-Irving and told the court: 'He is distraught.

'Adge is a strong character and he is not one that whines and moans. He is not one to burden people.

'He keeps saying "I wish it was me".'

At an earlier hearing,
Bell-Irving, of White Hill, Hoddum, Lockerbie, Scotland, admitted
causing the death of Mr McGrath by careless driving while unfit through
drink.

After the crash, he gave a blood alcohol reading of 182mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

Judge Euan Ambrose told
Bell-Irving he would be eligible to be released on licence after serving
half the two years and eight months sentence.

'Tragically Benedict McGrath
died as a result of injuries he received and he was pronounced dead at
the scene. You suffered injuries, albeit relatively minor,' the judge
said.

'The evidence is that you were not speeding but you simply failed to negotiate the bend in the road.

'The consequences of that have been devastating. Benedict McGrath was 20 years of age.

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Benedict McGrath: Father begs judge to show leniency on drink driver who killed son